Increase Access to Care and Services among Veterans with a Hematologic Malignancy

Through a number of collaborative efforts, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and oncology care providers in the VA health care system have been working to improve access to optimal care and services for veterans with a blood cancer to enhance their quality of life and outcomes. The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to foster additional sustainable collaborative projects between LLS and the VA that will improve care, increase access to clinical trials, and provide enhanced support and quality of life for veterans with hematologic malignancies. We aim to fund projects led by VA staff that draw upon LLS’s unique and robust services, resources, and education for patients and/or health care providers, to assist veterans with blood cancer from the time of diagnosis through survivorship.

Program Description

The goal of this Request for Proposals is to create sustainable projects that draw on LLS’ resources, education, and services to improve care, increase access to clinical trials, and/or provide enhanced support for veterans with hematologic malignancies. The intent is to fund pilot projects designed to foster ongoing collaboration with LLS and improve the quality of life of veterans with blood cancer and their families.

Funding is available for at least three grants, up to $75,000 each in total costs, for a maximum period of 18 months. The total amount available under this RFP is $225,000.

Some potential areas of collaboration

• Connecting veterans primarily treated through telemedicine to LLS. Many veterans with cancer are now treated through telemedicine, and this is especially true for rural veterans. Veterans with blood cancer who are cared for through telemedicine can perhaps benefit the most from our services and resources but are least likely to be connected to them. We welcome healthcare professionals to propose projects through which they will connect more veterans with blood cancer who are treated through telemedicine to LLS services and resources.

• Adapting LLS’s long-standing and successful First Connection program for use by veterans, and to build a cadre of veteran First Connection volunteers. The Patti Robinson Kaufmann First Connection® Program is a free service of LLS that introduces patients and their loved ones to a trained peer volunteer who has gone through a similar experience. Veterans newly diagnosed with a blood cancer or undergoing a specific treatment may particularly benefit from speaking with another veteran who can share their experience and provide information and support. The First Connection training could be adapted for veterans, to recognize their unique circumstances and needs. Veterans trained through the program would having the opportunity to support other veterans with a blood cancer as part of our nationwide network of peer volunteers.

• Fostering patient navigation to connect veterans to LLS’ resources, including the Information Resource Center (IRC), Clinical Trial Support Center (CTSC), registered oncology dietitians, the LLS Community, and more. Patient navigation is a well-established way of improving patient outcomes, particularly for those most vulnerable. A proposed project might leverage existing models of patient navigation within the VA to institute a systematic way of identifying needs of patients in treatment and survivors and referring veterans directly to the IRC and/or CTSC.

• Education of primary care providers in the VA. Within the VA health care system, primary care providers are expected to complete specific kinds of work ups on patients prior to referral to oncology. However, the majority of primary care providers have never been educated on how to do this properly, and they frequently reach out to oncologists for guidance. We welcome a proposal to provide such education, in collaboration with LLS, which could be delivered online. Primary care providers could potentially receive CE/CME credits (through LLS and/or its partners) for their learning in this area.

Eligibility

Applicants eligible to submit a proposal must be involved in delivering direct patient care, either directly or indirectly. This includes:

• physicians
• physicians’ assistants
• nurse practitioners
• nurses
• social workers
• patient navigators
• other healthcare providers or healthcare administrators

We encourage projects to have multi-disciplinary leadership. The primary applicant must be employed by the Veterans Health Administration. The sponsoring institution of the applicant must be based in the United States or its territories.

How to Apply

• Please download and refer to the RFP document above.
• Please download and use the application template document available above.
• Applicants must carefully read the program document before beginning their applications.
• See the table below for all the key dates and deadlines:

Do you have any questions?

Please refer to the downloadable RFP document above for answers and for contact information.